The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Rosa hybrida. The new cultivar will be referred to hereafter by its cultivar name, ‘Navy Lady’. ‘Navy Lady’ is a new cultivar of shrub rose grown for use as a landscape shrub.
The new cultivar of shrub rose is a selection from a controlled breeding program conducted by the inventor in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec, Canada with a focus to create rose cultivars with greater hardiness and disease resistance, improved plant form and length of flowering period, and unique flower colors.
The new variety of shrub rose, ‘Navy Lady’ was selected by the Inventor among seedlings derived from a cross made in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec, Canada in 2003 between the female parent, ‘Fourth of July’ (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 11,518) and the male parent, ‘Astrid Lindgren’ (not patented). ‘Navy Lady’, designated as seedling no. ST03H003-02, was planted in the field in 2004, and selected and advanced to additional trials until 2008, when it was selected by the Inventor as a single unique plant with distinct characteristics.
The new cultivar was first asexually propagated by the Inventor by softwood cuttings in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec, Canada in 2004. Asexual propagation determined that the characteristics of this cultivar are stable and are reproduced true to type in successive generations.